But What Can I Do?: Why Politics Has Gone So Wrong, and How You Can Help Fix It

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Alastair Campbell, Speaker Mentor – "Define your key message" ". The Speaker. BBC. April 2009. Archived from the original on 11 April 2009 . Retrieved 10 May 2009. Shortly after Tony Blair was elected as Leader of the Labour Party in 1994, Campbell left Today to become Blair's press secretary. Having recovered and become teetotal, he told Blair about his alcoholism, which Blair did not see as a problem. In his autobiography, Blair would later reveal that Campbell had coined the name " New Labour" and described Campbell as a "genius". Campbell wrote the speech that led to the party's review of Clause IV and the birth of "New Labour". In addition to being press spokesman, Campbell was Blair's speechwriter and chief strategist. He oversaw new co-ordination and rebuttal systems which gave birth to a communications machine which became both feared and respected, and the model for modern communications in politics and business. He earned a reputation for ruthless news management which made him many enemies in the media. But even the Conservatives conceded they were partly defeated by their inability to find someone to match him. [16] Campbell played an important role in the run-up to the 1997 UK general election, working with Peter Mandelson to co-ordinate Labour's successful election campaign. He also worked hard to win support from the national media for the Labour Party, particularly from newspapers that for many years had been anti-Labour. By March 1997, many of the leading newspapers—including The Sun, once a staunch Thatcherite paper; had declared their support for Labour. [17] Campbell was a guest presenter of Good Morning Britain from 10 to 12 May 2021, where he presented with Susanna Reid. [50]

Earlier, Campbell told me that in a forthcoming podcast in which they interview Jonathan Powell, Blair’s former chief of staff, Stewart can be heard losing his temper over Iraq (he has come to believe the invasion was a catastrophic error). “I could see his body start to shake,” he said. So why isn’t the matter a problem between Campbell and Stewart? (Campbell was involved in the preparation of the Iraq dossier, the briefing document that was ultimately used to justify Britain’s participation in the war.) “Well, we did two hours on it on the podcast for the 20th anniversary. We did it in real depth, and he managed to keep his cool then. But he does still mention it, yes.” By the time MPs have been there for 10 years, they’re not fully rounded human beings any more Rory Stewart celebrity apprentice 'your fired' ". youtube.com. YouTube. Archived from the original on 22 January 2010 . Retrieved 17 May 2017. THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE BULLSHIT – HOW TORY MPS ARE DEALING WITH COMPLAINTS ABOUT CUMMINGS". Archived from the original on 1 October 2020 . Retrieved 8 October 2020.Campbell, Alastair. "A lament for my lost piper". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017 . Retrieved 11 May 2017.

Part of The Speaker’s mission is to inspire a new generation in politics and improve young people’s understanding of politics; from breaking down complex stories, or delivering resources to teach about our political system. Campbell makes this a large theme of his book and he is a strong believer in the importance of good political education in schools. Mayhew, Freddy (31 May 2016). "Alastair Campbell and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown among new IB Times writers". Press Gazette. Archived from the original on 14 April 2017 . Retrieved 13 April 2017. Campbell took part in the Mental Health Foundation's takeover of Channel Four for Mental Health Awareness Week 2017, acting as a celebrity continuity announcer. For the Mental Health Awareness Week two years later he broadcast the documentary Alastair Campbell: Depression and Me, exploring different ways of dealing and coping with depression. It was part of a BBC series drawing attention to different mental health conditions. [67]Campbell, 65, is well-placed to opine on the subject. A former communications director for Tony Blair, he seemed less Machiavellian than, say, Dominic Cummings, and instead determined – often belligerently – to do the right thing by his country, even if half the country was convinced he was wrong. But then, such is politics. Despite quitting in 2003, he’s never really left the field because he can’t. People, he suggests, are always coming up to him, either to blame him for New Labour’s failings, or else to ask what “we” can do to improve things. His book is, in part, an answer. Roll of Honour March 2022" (PDF). The Royal College of Psychiatrists. March 2022 . Retrieved 15 October 2022. Self-harm is a downscaled version of the same thing. Any addiction is self-harm. I have known addiction, I have known self-harm, and in 2005, a couple of years after I had “left” Downing Street (I never really left and that was one of the big problems), amid one of my worst and most prolonged bouts of depression, I inflicted on myself one of my worst experiences of physical self-harm. In November 2021 Campbell was featured in the BBC series Winter Walks, walking in the Yorkshire Dales along Ribblesdale, from a waterfall above the market town of Settle, to Catrigg Force near Stainforth, 5mi (8.0km) to the North. [96]